ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 14, 1997 TAG: 9703140044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHANTILLY
SOURCE: VICTORIA BENNING THE WASHINGTON POST
An elementary school class got invited inside the National Reconnaissance Office, which has come out of the spy closet since the end of the Cold War.
For three decades, it was a U.S. spy agency so secret that the federal government wouldn't acknowledge its existence. When the agency built its sleek new headquarters in Fairfax County a few years ago, officials pretended it was a private office complex and paid property taxes on it as part of the ruse.
But, like so many other Cold War secrets, the National Reconnaissance Office has been declassified. And if everyone knows who you are, you might as well have the neighbors drop by for a visit.
So 100 fourth-graders from Centreville's Cub Run Elementary School recently got to see the place that runs the nation's spy satellite system, venturing where no adult - at least none without security clearance - has been before.
All right, so the students didn't see any recent photos of missile silos. But the field trips did teach them a lot about satellite technology. That will come in handy, because the fourth-graders are studying the solar system in class and soon will make model satellites.
The spy agency, operated jointly by the CIA and the Defense Department, has become Cub Run Elementary's business partner. That's a privilege no school has had before. From its creation in 1961 until 1992, the National Reconnaissance Office's existence was classified information.
But the agency's history and intrigue were lost on most of the 55 students who visited the $310million building in Chantilly. They were more impressed by all the neat stuff inside.
They saw a giant camera from the nation's first spy satellite program, the Corona. In April, the camera will be moved to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as part of a display on Cold War reconnaissance.
The agency staff also showed the students a video about the hundreds of satellites in outer space.
``This is so cool,'' 9-year-old Christine Stieffer said before the official tour had even begun. ``It's like really amazing what they can actually do and stuff.''
``It's so neat how they can, like, get something way up in space and it stays there and doesn't fall,'' said Bridget Rafferty, 10, who wants to write books about space when she grows up.
In fact, the words ``cool,'' ``neat'' and ``wow'' accounted for most of the conversation during the 90-minute visit.
As for the speeches by agency employees, they didn't focus much on the espionage side of the business. Instead, the staff emphasized how working at the agency was a chance to be part of the U.S. space program without becoming an astronaut. They talked about all the various jobs at the agency - meteorologist, psychologist, aerospace engineer, mathematician - and how each plays a role in its mission.
``One thing we all have in common is education,'' said Jeff Grant, an ocean engineer by training, who directs the agency's office on plans and analysis. ``The space program is big, it's exciting, and if you study hard and really work, you can be here, too,'' he said.
Then came the never-ending stream of questions and the judicious answers.
``What was the Cold War?'' Well, it was a time in history when the United States was worried about the Russians and the threat of nuclear war.
``Is the CIA a spy company?'' The CIA does lots of things, and most CIA employees aren't spies.
``Does the SR-71 fly in space?'' No, the SR-71, a spy plane, flies at an altitude of about 14 miles.
``Can the Russians and other countries see us, too?'' Yes, other countries have satellites that are taking pictures of the United States.
``Do you think there's life on Mars?''
That one seemed to stump Grant. ``If you grow up and study hard, you might get to travel there and find out,'' he answered. ``That's your generation's job.''
SPRINGFIELD - Joy Zucker has a special chair in her office, a special bed in her house and something called a ``Back Buddy'' in her car.
All these gizmos are designed to help her aching back, and all came from a growing group of specialty back stores.
About 150 such stores nationwide sell adjustable beds, high-tech pillows, pump-action chair pads, electric massagers, footrests and a host of other back-friendly products.
``For me, it's the difference between getting through the day without a migraine headache or not,'' said Zucker, a television producer, as she demonstrated the $110 molded-foam seat back that gives extra support to her lower back and neck.
``Five minutes in someone else's chair and I feel the stress,'' that often leads to a debilitating migraine, she said.
The sedentary lifestyle of most office workers and the graying of the baby boomers are driving the growth of back-friendly products, said Skip Schatz, co-owner with wife JoAnne of a chain of Washington-area stores called JoAnne's Bed & Back Shops.
``So many people have bad backs, and they're looking for products that can help them live their lives and do their jobs,'' Schatz said.
Eight of ten people experience debilitating back pain at some point in their lives, said Scott Donkin, a Lincoln, Neb., chiropractor, author and consultant on ergonomically correct work areas.
``Back stores really are quite a hot item over the past decade or so,'' Donkin said.
Back stores are part of the growth of the multibillion-dollar back treatment business in the United States - treatment that includes surgery, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment and various home health remedies, Donkin said.
``Ten years ago there probably would not have been that kind of market. People understand there are more things they can do to help themselves,'' Donkin said.
Chains with names such as the Healthy Back Store on the East Coast and Texas-based Relax the Back have expanded in recent years, but comprehensive sales figures are not available.
JoAnne's did about $4.5 million in sales last year, up from $3.8 million two years ago, Schatz said. The chain recently expanded to St. Louis, and plans to open four stores in the metropolitan New York area in May.
Most sales are to people over 40, Schatz said. Younger people either don't have the money or are more likely to shake off minor aches and pains, he said.
Ms. Zucker, 32, belongs to the other major group seeking specialty back products - those with injuries. She suffered nerve damage in a car accident eight years ago.
Doctors increasingly refer patients to back stores for special products, and insurance companies sometimes pick up the cost, Donkin said.
Mail-order catalogs and high-end retailers such as Nieman-Marcus sell similar chairs and pads, and hospital beds can be had from home medical and other suppliers.
But the back stores, which typically advertise heavily, are aiming at the backs and wallets of a more general market.
At $1,300 and up, the cushy beds that raise one's head or feet with the touch of a button are undoubtedly a luxury. But sales of the beds have doubled since the first JoAnne's store opened seven years ago.
``People buy this because they see the need. It's not conspicuous consumption. It's not a gold Rolex,'' Schatz said.
Still, the best customers are often well-heeled boomers - the sort who might also buy a Rolex.
``The baby boomers are a prime market. They are at the age now where they have some pain and complaints, and they have more disposable income,'' Schatz said.
A hot seller at JoAnne's is a high-backed office chair familiar to anyone who watched the O.J. Simpson trial on television.
A sign on a black leather version of the chair announces, ``Yes, this is the Judge Ito chair!''
The chair, a model with additional lower-back support and a variety of other features used by Lance Ito, retails for about $900. Sales rose more than 40 percent during the trial, and have remained high since, Schatz said.
``Judge Ito sits all day long. He understands the value of something like this,'' Schatz said.
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